Insufficient balance

  Ma Yue stood up, his expression cold and detached. His eyes had already frozen over, and the back of his right hand, which was gripping the knife, bulged with veins like the rough scales on a crocodile's back.

  "Pick up the steamed bun."

  Ma Yue's tone was neither overcast nor fiery, but subtly carried a hint of a murderous aura.

  He was a Yellow Turban elite soldier, nearly 1.9 meters tall, a head taller than Ma Chao, with a full beard and round eyes that shone like copper bells, his appearance was extremely frightening, but there was not a hint of retreat in Ma Chao's eyes.

  "What did you say?"

  The Yellow Turban elite soldier seemed somewhat incredulous, a lowly dagger shield bearer dared to speak to him in such a tone, did he want to die?

  "Pick up the steamed bun."

  "Looking for death!"

  The Yellow Turban elite soldier was furious, the whip in his hand whistling as he lashed it at Ma Chao's face. Ma Chao's mouth curled up into a cold smile, his left hand shooting out like lightning to grab the tip of the whip. The Yellow Turban elite soldier pulled with all his might but couldn't budge it, and it seemed that in terms of strength, the two were evenly matched! A cold gleam flashed through the Yellow Turban elite soldier's ringed eyes as he discarded the whip and reached back to draw the sword at his waist.

  Ma Yue's pupils contracted slightly, and even among the elite soldiers who could wear swords, there were not many.

  Faced with the impending melee, the surrounding Yellow Turbans looked on indifferently. The members of the Yellow Turbans were complex and mixed in quality, and such melees actually took place every day, so they had long since grown accustomed to them.

  The Yellow Turban elite soldier brandished a sword flower and stabbed it into Ma Chao's chest.

  Ma Yue sighed in his heart, and with a glance at the sword grip and the posture of the hand, he knew that today he had encountered a good swordsman. Fighting against such an expert was no different from seeking death. His only chance to survive was to stake his life on it, to overwhelm his opponent with momentum, and make his opponent's heart tremble with fear!

  "Ah!"

  Ma Yue let out a loud roar, ignoring the sharp sword that was thrusting towards his chest. With a mighty force, he brought down his steel knife onto the Yellow Turban elite soldier's head, tearing through the air with a shrill whistle. Even if he were to be pierced through the heart by a sword, he would still slash his opponent in two with one stroke of his knife. At this moment, Ma Yue had no other thoughts in his mind except for the fierce determination to stake his life against his enemy's.

  The Yellow Turban elite soldier's face changed slightly as he dodged, he was unwilling to die together with a lowly knife shield bearer.

  Ma Yue slashed the air with his knife, never stopping, the steel blade opened wide like a long river wave, unrelenting. Every slash was made with all his might, every slash was a gamble with his life. The Yellow Turban elite soldiers were forced to dodge left and right, shouting in alarm, but they were at a loss for what to do, unless he was willing to fight his opponent to the death, otherwise, before his opponent's strength was exhausted, he only had the option of dodging.

  The fierce battle between the two finally alarmed the surrounding Yellow Turbans, who gathered around to watch the excitement. Fights were a daily occurrence, but such a brutal and intense battle was rare.

  When Ma Yue made his 107th slash, he knew he was going to lose today and might even pay with his life! Because his physical strength had been overdrawn.

  "Ding!"

  A crisp sound, the Yellow Turban elite soldier exerted himself with one sword, finally parrying Ma Chao's steel knife, and Ma Chao's chest was wide open! A thread of ruthless killing intent flashed across the eyes of the Yellow Turban elite soldier, the opportunity had finally come! Ma Chao's steel knife was still swinging outward, but the Yellow Turban elite soldier's sharp sword had already stabbed into his chest, and it seemed to be about to pierce his heart!

  Ma Yue's mouth corners twitched slightly, bursting into a thread of fierce and cold smile. In the nick of time, Ma Yue bent his knees and slightly crouched down. This was the last chance!

  "Pffft!"

  The long sword of the Yellow Turban elite soldier pierced Ma Chao's body effortlessly, sinking in to the hilt! A sinister cold smile floated onto the face of the Yellow Turban elite soldier, but that cold smile quickly froze because he saw an even more sinister cold smile on his opponent's face, which was absolutely the most terrifying smile he had ever seen in his life.

  This sword pierced Ma Chao's shoulder but did not pierce his heart.

  The Yellow Turban elite soldier sensed the danger and just as he was about to draw his sword back, Ma Chao's left hand had already clamped down on it. Without hesitation, he gripped the sharp blade tightly. The Yellow Turban elite soldier exerted great force to pull out his sword, but Ma Chao's left hand held the blade firmly in place. Veins bulged on the back of his hand and scarlet blood oozed from between his fingers. The long sword seemed stuck in stone, unable to move!

  Ma's face remained as calm and collected as ever, as if the sword that had sliced through him hadn't even touched his flesh. Only in his dark eyes did a shocking cold flame burn more fiercely than before.

  The Yellow Turban elite soldier's eyes finally revealed fear, he had never seen such a ruthless character.

  "Wow~~"

  Ma Chao let out a loud roar, and the swinging steel blade finally returned to its original position, chopping horizontally towards the neck of the Yellow Turban elite soldier. The Yellow Turban elite soldier's heart was chilled to the bone, his entire body frozen in place like a wooden chicken, unable to do anything but stare blankly as the sharp blade sliced towards his neck, his face already deathly pale.

  "Hey!"

  Ma leapt up with a loud shout, the steel knife screeching to a halt, its sharp blade mere millimeters from the Yellow Turban soldier's neck. The soldier could clearly feel the icy chill that seemed to seep into his very marrow, as well as the faint humming noise emitted by the vibrating blade. The Yellow Turban soldier's hands went limp, releasing their grip on the sword hilt, and he lowered his proud head in defeat - he was beaten, thoroughly vanquished.

  With the steel blade pressed against the Yellow Turban elite soldier's neck, Ma Chao gave a cold smile. His left hand grasped the sword tightly and slowly pulled it out from the body inch by inch. Then he casually discarded the long sword on the ground. Fresh blood spurted out of the wound like a javelin, splashing onto the muddy snowy ground, dyeing a patch of red. However, Ma Chao's body didn't move at all, standing still and firm as a mountain.

  "Pick up the steamed bun."

  Ma Yue's tone was still calm and collected, but the hidden murderous intent in his words made people suffocate.

  The Yellow Turban elite soldier silently bent down, picked up the half piece of steamed bun from the muddy snowy ground, wiped it with his sleeve again and again, and handed it to Ma Chao in front of him. Ma Chao took it over, then sheathed his sword and retreated, turning around and ignoring the Yellow Turban elite soldier. Ma Chao's expression on his face was calm as if nothing had happened, but the sword wound on his body was still bleeding obviously.

  The Yellow Turban elite soldier stood sternly and asked in a deep voice: "What is your name?"

  Horse Jump.

  Ma Yue's head didn't turn back, and once again solemnly stuffed the steamed bun into Chen Gan's hand.

  "Ha! I am Pei Yuanshao," said the Yellow Turban elite soldier loudly. "I admire you, you're a real man."

  "Really?"

  Ma Yue smiled faintly and shook his body twice. Chen Gan hurriedly supported him and anxiously asked, "Big brother, what's wrong with you?"

  Yellow Turban elite soldiers looked around, a thunderous voice echoed throughout the entire military camp: "Lang Zhong, where did Lang Zhong die? Get over here quickly."

  Not far from the two, was Liu's command tent. Two slender silhouettes were standing outside the tent, watching the fierce battle between the two with bated breath. Only when they saw the two end their fight peacefully did they let out a sigh of relief.

  "A soft and gentle voice rang out: 'Lian'er, quickly go get my medicine box.'"

  ……

  Zhao Hong's camp.

  Liu Bi's face turned iron-green with rage, and he said indignantly: "General Zhao's method is somewhat improper, isn't it?"

  Zhao Hong said coldly, "Liu Bi, don't be ungrateful. I can leave you one-tenth of the money and grain, which is already a great favor. If it weren't for me leading the army to rescue you, your troops would have been annihilated long ago. What use would you have for more money and grain?"

  "Clang!"

  The general under the account, Taizhen, drew out half of his sword, with a strong killing intent in his eyes, as if he would behead Liu Bi on the spot with just one order from Zhao Hong. Liu Bi was so frightened that he dared not utter a word.

  "One must not be discourteous even to a lowly servant."

  Zhao Hong shouted loudly, and Guan Hai immediately put his sword back in its scabbard. Poor Liu Bi had already been frightened into a cold sweat.

  Zhao Hong burst out laughing and said, "General Liu Pi, your younger sister is beautiful and charming, and she's also skilled in medicine. Why not marry her to me? We can become relatives by marriage, how about it?"

  Liu Bi's face changed, and he frowned: "My sister's medical skills are shallow, her appearance is rough, how can she match Zhao Shuai? If General Zhao has nothing else to do, I will take my leave now."

  Zhao Hong's face turned red with anger and he said: "In that case, I won't see you off."

  Liu Bi reluctantly nodded and left, Zhao Hong seeing Liu Bi off in the distance, turned to Guan Hai and said: "Guan Hai, take 1,000 elite soldiers to personally go to Liu Bi's camp to inspect and receive the grain and fodder. I reckon that Liu Bi won't willingly hand over the money and grain. If he dares to play any tricks, kill him on the spot and annex his troops and horses."

  "I will obey orders."

  Guan Heilang's voice responded with a hint of a sinister smile on his pitch-black face, he had already picked up on Zhao Hong's underlying tone.